Trends in the drawing of mechanisms since the early Middle Ages

Drawing of mechanisms is a fundamental tool for mechanical design and repre sentation. In this paper a historical study on the evolution of representat ion of mechanisms has been carried out in order to establish the historic b ackground and identify the progress over time. Investigating several author s has identified basic changes in the evolution of mechanism drawing, and a few examples are reported in this paper to stress the main concepts. The d rawing of mechanisms has evolved from an intentionally incomplete represent ation to a naturalistic and pictorial view, then from concise sketches and kinematic diagrams to modern abstract graphic pictures. The development of mechanism drawing has been strongly linked with and affected by the evoluti on of knowledge in mechanical sciences and particularly mechanism design.